1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to waste treatment. More particularly, the present invention relates to method and composition for the solidification or semi solidification of waste materials containing both liquid and solid phases.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The disposition of hazardous and offensive waste materials is a major problem for both industry and the populace of most industrialized nations. As industry has grown and the population has grown, disposal sites for hazardous and offensive waste are becoming increasingly difficult to locate. Increasing knowledge of the dangers to the populace created by the disposition of hazardous and offensive waste have placed limitations on the availability of waste sites and the method of disposing of various wastes at any selected sites.
Many governmental regulations have been issued by both state and federal governmental bodies restricting the manner in which hazardous or offensive waste materials may disposed. One of the primary objectives of most legislation is to solidify the liquid phases of hazardous waste and contain both the liquid and the solid phase within a matrix which will prevent the migration of the waste into the environment.
Many effects have been made in the art to solidify or confine liquid and solid waste to prevent pollution of the environment. Exemplary of the prior art are the following U.S. Patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,514 discloses a method for controlling the gelling time for solidification of multi-phase wastes. A waste is admixed with cement, a powdered alkali metal silicate, and a liquid alkali metal silicate in relative quantities sufficient to cause the admixture to gel and set to a sedentary mass.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,292 discloses a process for containment of liquids as solids or semi-solids including absorbing the liquid in biogenetic silica in amorphous state having a porous skeletal structure, a major portion of the liquid being contained in void spaces of the porous skeleton, the biogenetic silica being present in an amount sufficient to contain the liquid in at least a semisolid mass.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,857 discloses a method for storing hazardous or toxic waste material by placing the waste material in sealed containers within a solid concrete block buried in the earth. A concrete chamber with integrated floor and side walls is formed in the ground, and a first group of sealed, filled containers is arranged on the floor and covered with concrete. Structure is provided to collect and recycle any leachate which escapes the concrete chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,700 discloses a method for disposing of waste materials including depositing the waste material in an excavation and encasing the waste material with a molten composition poured in to the excavation, the composition being the reaction product of sulfur and about 2 to 40 percent of a modifier selected from the group including dicyclopentadiene, dipentene, vinyltoluene and oligomers of cyclopentadiene, and allowing the molten composition to harden to form a solid mass having the waste material incorporated therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,672 discloses a method and composition for producing a stabilized fill material, the fill material including fly ash cement and water, including mixing the material and depositing it directly in water by equipment supported on previously deposited fill material to form a causeway or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,677 discloses a process for treating waste sludge from combustion plant desulfurization units and cementitious products produced by the process. The method for hardening inorganic aqueous waste sludge including calcium salts includes thickening the sludge by removing a portion of the liquid content, calcining the residual solids, withdrawing a second portion of the thickened sludge and mixing the partially dewatered sludge and at least a portion of the intermediate product to produce a hardenable product.